Max Frischknecht

Hello! Nice to meet you in hyperspace! I’m Max and in the next week I would like to address the relation between us and the digital world. You are very welcome to contribute your thoughts and ideas at any given time! During the first day I would like to ask the question of „What’s our relation to technology?“ #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork
depot_baselWelcome @maxfrischknecht !

Do you belive in users? (Tron 1982). Olia Lialina states in her work „Turning complete user“ (2012): „Being a User is the last reminder that there is, whether visible or not, a computer, a programmed system you use.“ This is contradictory to what Don Norman states in “Why Interfaces Don’t Work” (1990): „The computer of the future should be invisible“. Don Norman prefers the term „people“ instead of „user“.
What do you believe? Could it be dangerous to be not aware that there is a programmable (which means influenceable) system in front of you?
#tron #olialialina #donnorman #uservspeople #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Interface of experience? Apple states on there website: „Apple’s four software platforms … provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services“. Back in 1984 when Apple released the first Macintosh they used the term „user“ and instead of „experiences“ the wrote about actual applications like „word processing“ or „graphics“. Experience sounds nice, but it puts the user in a passive position. The computer is now a transmitter and the user a receiver. Does is really „empower people“?
The work of Pox Party and there sOS illustrates this in a very nice way – http://satromizer.com/sOS/
#satromizer #experiencedesign #sOS #breakthroughservices #empowerpeople #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Visible technology becomes invisible technology. What we see when we look at a computer display is a visual representation of a programmed system or application. This appears to us as the one and only possible representation, but it’s actually just one of many possibilities. In addition to this, computers get more and more invisible. The intention behind this is to make it easy to use – and without the necessity of learning a complex system. Often justified for the sake of more free time or the ability to focus on „the important things in life“. But does this give us more freedom? Or is it more of a restriction?
The images above are "glitches" – images containing an error. I made those by changing the code or data of the image – through that the representation changes as well. Since I did it on purpose – is it an error?
#underthesurface #hex #glitch #onerepresentation #freedomorrestriction #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Behind every system there is a code – a language everyone can learn. It’s a powerful tool. For example in the communication of complex topics. This program I wrote shows the political relations between the ethnicity of Yugoslavia between 1946 and 2005. Each color represents one ethnicity. By jumping trough the different epochs, you are able to gain a sense for the historical incidents. It attempts to gain a basic understanding trough simple and playful visualization.
You can find more information here: https://vimeo.com/116741498
#code #processing #geopolitics #yugoslavia #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Technology has become a part of our everyday life. Over the last 30 years the digital world and the real world approached each other step by step.
#digitalculture #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

The machine becomes personal. In 1976 Apple introduced the first computer for home use. The „APPLE I“ was designed by Steve Wozniak and was available for 666 US-Dollars. (With no display, you had to attach it to your modified tv-screen). Wozniak was part of the „Homebrew Computer Club“ who represented the idea that computers should be publicly available. At the time an utopian idea and the marking point in the process of the personalization of technology.
#personalcomputer #appleI #homebrew #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

The first man becomes a face in 1964. The first man, also known as „Boeing Man“ was the first 3-D model of a human figure created by a computer. It was designed by William Fetter an American graphic designer and pioneer in the field of computer graphics. The „Boeing Man“ had his first appearance as pilot in a short computer animation for the Boeing company. Today computers are not only able to represent a human body precisely, furthermore they are able to recognize it, track it and respond to it.
#boeingman #firstman #3d #williamfetter #human #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Digital data gets connected to biodata. One recent example of our digital genesis is that biological data gets collected and linked to digital data (or personal data). Modern smartphones, like the iPhone, contain a fingerprint recognition and companies like 23andMe offer cheap DNA tests for privat persons. In 2007 Google invested 3,9 Million USD in 23anMe. Data privacy specialists fear that informations could be shared with health insurance or other third party companys.
#biodata #dna #23andme #only149 #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork
ethel_baraonaHere the concept of our #DNABank, somehow alive and kicking @cerreyes @matthewclaudel
justartistsLooks good! Check us out too at ? www.NoCriticsJustArtists.Com
rahelrosenthalBrilliant! Like it!

For every human desire, there is a digital component. You can comment on almost every real life experience (restaurants, bars, hotels, cities), search for almost every content you are interested in (google) or organize your professional (xing) and privat contacts (facebook). Most lately the expression of emotions became very popular. Although the smiley is existing since 1963 (first designed by Harvey Ball) – the implementation and use of emojis nowadays is routine. In 2015 the Oxford Dictionary even declared the „laugh oneself to tears“ emoji word of the year – they claim it’s able to destroy language barriers. For us or for the data collectors?
#smile #emotion #emoji #humanexpression #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Our environment gets heavily interconnected with the internet. The so called „Internet of things“ enables physical objects to collect and exchange data. It’s surprising how many object are accessible trough the web. The @mediengruppe_bitnik did a project called „Surveillance Chess“ back in 2012. They hacked into the signals of CCTV cameras in London by using a interfering transmitter. Once they gained control over what the guards see, they invited them to play a game of chess with them. The project shows how „easy“ it can be to access an unprotected wifi signal – a simple but relevant insight nowadays.
Check the project here: http://chess.bitnik.org/about.html
#mediengruppebitnik #chess #internetofthings #cctv #wifi #hacking #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Public space becomes private and private space becomes public. We make our live public by sharing it trough the use of social media and different applications. On the other hand the public space gets privatized. Basel is well accessible trough google maps and live webcams. This seems like a service to the public because all those services are free and available for everyone with internet. Don’t you agree that those services come at cost of data? In 2015 Google became the worlds second most valuable firm on the market (394 Billion Dollar). The Frist place goes to Apple and the third to ExxonMobil. This means data is has more value then oil. (The image shows the Depot Basel on street view.) #publicview #streetview #coolitsfree! #dataisthenewoil #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

The last chapter of my Instagram-Takeover is about the new capitalism of data. Google or Facebook are worth billions – why? What do they sell? What to they offer? All there services are free to use. How is it possible?
#maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork

Signs are the new currency. Every character you type into a digital device says something about you. If properly collected and analyzed it’s possible to predict much about your life. What kind of newspaper do you read? What kind of music do you listen? How much and what kind of food do you eat? Are you in a relationship? Are you happy?
#ascii #signs #currency #thouhtsandemotions #maxfrischknecht #depotbasel #placeforcontemporarydesign #depotbaselnetwork